One Poem by Dr. Stephen Paul Wren

 

Clearings in the wood 

 

 

It was our cosmos.

 

A sleek sphere with walls that rebounded news and cropped dark matter.

We sauntered around in a light darkness.

 

It was our fledgling life. Bodies were ice and dust. Close family was rock.

The unknowns were planets. The space made us feel strong.

 

Clearings in the wood.

 

A pinpoint sun shone to convert the frost and warm up the lake.

Cores of friendly stars lit up precincts with the tint of fusion.

 

It was butter coloured. Eyelids were our lipids. Tangles grew in waters.

The echoes assembled us. We became faultless.

 

On, on brief candle!

 

 

 

Our nature crumbled. In a sudden acceleration of carelessness.

 

Each hefty pillar fell, one by one, into substances with muzzles.

Down the throat of nobility.

Our sad limbs and bodies were pulled into wire.

 

There were no more clearings in the wood.

We became another blemish in the chaos.

Offspring turned off torches.

 

 

 

Missile fire reclaimed the cosmos.

 

It drew breath.

Diaphragm upon diaphragm began to build alliances.

We were submerged. Rivers of life flowed through new clearings in the wood.

 

The symbiosis made us joyous.

New hair sprouted and new lips kissed.

We became responsible.

Dr Stephen Paul Wren was educated at Cambridge and worked as a chemist in industry for many years. He transitioned back into academia at Oxford University (St Hilda’s College) before joining Kingston University in September 2018 where he works as a Senior lecturer.

Stephen’s poetry can be read at www.stephenpaulwren.wixsite.com/luke12poetry and you can find him on Twitter @Stephen34343631.